Let me begin by thanking Dr. Mark James for his leadership and guidance this past year as president of our association. I would also like to thank Dr. John Schneller as an the outgoing board member for his service on the board. I would like to welcome and congratulate the newly elected board members: Dr. William Croushore and Dr. Jeremy VanBoening.

I especially thank Charles Looney, PhD, for his efforts in putting together a conference that was second to none in Orlando this past year. Thanks to our membership, the conference was well attended, the venue was beautiful, and the weather was fantastic.

I would also like to thank all of the volunteers who serve and who have served on the AETA’s various committees. It is the work of the committees that is the backbone of the organization.

Happy spring (I am writing this as the snow falls) from the Education Committee of AETA. Although I worked the two months of February and March, they seem a blur; influenza and the accompanying ailments following an immunosuppressive virus made me unenthusiastic about getting after the update for the newsletter. As of this date, we have started getting busy with spring work and setting up donors and recipients for show season, and so on. A few things have crossed my mind regarding ET that I will lay out.

An unfortunate reality with IVF is the occasional need to utilize commercial shipping companies in the transportation of oocytes to and embryos from the IVF lab. Many of us who work with IVF shipments have experienced a delayed, lost, or cold incubator. These are unfortunate events that can be catastrophic to results and end in frustrated lab staff, transfer teams, and clients. Below are a few suggestions on how to handle incubators that are compromised in transit while embryos are going back to the practitioner or client’s farm.

For most of us practitioners, CIDR have become a staple in our reproductive programs and will continue to be as long as they are effective. Whether they are used on donors or recipients or in artificial insemination protocols, they allow us to manipulate the estrous cycle for various needs. However, everyone has had a time when the number of CIDR put in does not match the number found when it comes time to retrieve them. This scenario can happen in a few instances: (1) we did not actually place a CIDR in the first place or (2) they fell out or were pulled out prior. CIDR, in general, should not come out sporadically, and if they do, it is usually because of poor or haphazard placement. Therefore, the latter scenario in which they are getting pulled out is more likely. In our experience, heifers are the problem child group. Heifers, curious in nature, and especially Holsteins, are all too accustomed to making our lives much more difficult by helping us pull CIDR out before our protocol says.

To mitigate this issue, I was taught at some point in my career to clip the blue attached string short. However, I usually forget to grab scissors or a knife to do such modifications to the CIDR at placement. Conveniently enough, I was taught a different modification to hide that all-too-enticing blue string. The modification is simple and easy, and rarely, if ever, do we lose CIDR in those curious Holstein heifers anymore.

If you have ever looked at a CIDR, there is a hole the same size as the blue string on the base of the CIDR. All you have to do is flip the blue string in the hole before placing the CIDR in the applicator. This hides the blue string and conveniently creates a looped handle for removal. In our hands, this modification has worked on our farms with heifers. Clients are less adaptive to this new method because they cannot see the blue string to confirm the CIDR is still in place, but the persuasive nature in me explains that if a CIDR were to fall out prior to protocol, it could prevent an ET or AI pregnancy. Caution: we commonly do this in cows also, and sometimes the blue string handle is in just a little too far and is out of reach. Then trans-rectal palpation guidance is needed to push the CIDR closure to the vulvar opening for retrieval.

On that note, I hope this helps someone and that you never lose another CIDR.

Greetings fellow AETA members: As the summer heat settles in, we wish everyone a safe and relaxing season. The year tends to pass quickly, and we continue to gear up for our annual convention in beautiful Colorado Springs. We thank Dr. Matt Dorshorst and his convention planning team for their outstanding efforts on this convention.[…]

Dear AETA members: The purpose of AETA is to unite those organizations and individuals in the United States engaged in the embryo transfer industry into an affiliated federation operating under self- imposed standards of performance and conduct. As AETA delivers on education and standards of quality through its certification program, we become the “voice” for[…]

The 2019 AETA-CETA/ACTE Joint Annual Convention will be held from October 24–26, 2019, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The conference will take place at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. All of the AETA scientific, social and exhibitor information can be found on the AETA Annual Convention page as it becomes available. Check back often! Colorado Springs is[…]

The AETA/AASRP 2019 Small Ruminant Embryo Transfer Seminar was held June 19 to 22, 2019, at The Ohio State University Large Animal Services satellite veterinary teaching hospital in Marysville, Ohio. The meeting was organized by Dr. Eric Gordon. The course started on Wednesday, June 19, with a review of small ruminant reproductive physiology by Dr.[…]

The AABP office has received questions from members regarding the legality of using compounded estradiol products in cattle for embryo transfer protocols. AABP has also been in discussion with the FDA about the use of compounded estradiol products in food animals. Compounding from approved drugs in animals is only permitted under the narrowly defined conditions[…]

Read full paper here C. Wrenzycki http://dx.doi.org/10.21451/1984-3143-AR869 Anim Reprod, vol.13, n3, p.279-282, 2016 Abstract Over the past decades in vitro production (IVP) of bovine embryos has been significantly improved. Nevertheless, embryos generated in vitro still differ from their in vivo produced counterparts. Embryos must adjust to multiple microenvironments at preimplantation stages. Consequently, maintaining or mimicking the in[…]

By Dr. Matt Iager, 2019 AETA President Greetings to you from AETA. As spring business gears up, don’t forget to take time to interact with friends and family and thank the farmers and ranchers who provide the avenue for our services. AETA has been busy focusing and planning for a fun and successful 2019! In[…]

The 2019 AETA-CETA/ACTE will be held from October 24–26, 2019, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The conference will be held at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. All of the AETA scientific, social, and exhibitor information can be found on the AETA Annual Convention page as it becomes available. Check back often! Colorado Springs is a wonderful city[…]

Submitted by Dr. Kevin Lindell Recently, Dr. Rachael Gately, Tufts Veterinary Field Service, had the opportunity (through a collaborative research project) to explore the realm of small ruminant ovum pick-up (OPU)/in vitro fertilization (IVF). We thought it would be interesting to the membership to relay our initial experiences and challenges. To date, donors have been[…]